


That Time a Trained Assassin Became a Literal Marshmellow at the Hands of a Three Legged Kitten

by jacklles



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Domestic arguments, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, also, i got a cavity ok, kind of lmao, literally the fluffiest thing ive ever written, mainly fluff tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 01:07:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3432449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacklles/pseuds/jacklles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once he opened the lid of the dumpster it didn't take very long for Steve to find the tiny, scruffy looking kitten mewling loudly and struggling to stand upright amongst all the trash. </p><p>Bucky thought that they might've been able to get away with taking the little thing to the vet and dropping it off for the doctors to clean him up and adopt him out, until he saw that the kitten only had three legs.</p><p>"Ah Jesus," Bucky muttered, his eyes locked with Steve's and he knew this kitten wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. </p><p>After a beat of silence where Steve was no doubt struggling to remain calm, he said with the tiniest hint of humor, "He looks just like you, Buck."</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Time a Trained Assassin Became a Literal Marshmellow at the Hands of a Three Legged Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has so much fluff I'm surprised it hasn't floated away and become a cloud.  
> This is also my first Avengers anything related fic so I have no idea how I did on the characterizations, but I kind of had to write it.  
> Also my tumblr is nialllcentric.tumblr.com so if you want to talk about it I guess? you can I welcome anything lol  
> *Edited: because for some reason I have a hard time keeping my work in present tense its weird i know and I decided I should have probably read it through once before posting lmao

On a rare day off from taking life-threatening missions, Bucky and Steve decided to take a trip down memory lane back to the "good ol' days." In other words they revisited all the alleys and street corners in Brooklyn where Steve single-handedly fought the losing battle against injustice.

They were standing by one particular alley, Bucky trying not to get mad and failing when he remembered how foolish the scrawny kid had been, when Steve's head whipped around suddenly.

"What's up?" Bucky asked distractedly, who was far more focused on forcing his insides to digest the sorry excuse of meal he just had than Steve's super-senses. Even though the 21st Century brought countless new amazing discoveries,technology, and equality, Bucky still could not get behind Taco Bell, no matter how much Steve raved about the monstrosity that was the Crunchwrap Supreme.

"I thought I just heard something." Steve mussed, and must have heard it again because his eyes suddenly trained on a dumpster in the corner of the alley with such laser focus that Bucky knew they won't be going anywhere until Steve got to investigate.

Once he opened the lid of the dumpster it didn't take very long for Steve to find the tiny, scruffy looking kitten mewling loudly and struggling to stand upright amongst all the trash. 

Bucky thought that they might've been able to get away with taking the little thing to the vet and dropping it off for the doctors to clean him up and adopt him out, until he saw that the kitten only had three legs.

"Ah Jesus," Bucky muttered, his eyes locked with Steve's and he knew this kitten wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. 

After a beat of silence where Steve was no doubt struggling to remain calm, he said with the tiniest hint of humor, "He looks just like you, Buck."

Bucky refused to see it and gave Steve an unimpressed look as he struggled to pick up the yowling kitty. The twinge in his chest was not due to the kitten's pitiful attempt to protect itself. It was probably heartburn from the disgusting tacos Steve forced him to try earlier, Bucky concluded. Definitely heartburn.

The kitten, which Steve took to calling "Lil Buck"--much to Bucky's chagrin--didn't stopped yowling all the way to the vet, through the bath, checkup, and vaccines. 

He kept on complaining loudly and tried to escape Steve's grip several times until Steve dumped him into Bucky's arms out of exasperation. Much to both Steve and Bucky's surprise, the yowls quieted into what Bucky could only describe as gentle purrs. The kitten--Bucky will _not_  call him Lil Buck--sniffed Bucky's mechanical arm experimentally and after a few moments, proceeded to rub his head all along the cool metal contours of Bucky's hand. Bucky let out a sigh of relief he didn't realize he was holding in and looked up at Steve, who was fighting back tears, the old sap. Their eyes met and Bucky sighed in defeat.

"I'm still not calling him Lil Buck."

***

At PetsMart Steve tracked down an employee who didn't glance shiftily at Bucky's prosthetic arm and started pestering him with questions about food and toys and beds, getting the best quality brands the employee mentioned and placing them in the cart, Bucky unwillingly trailing along behind them.

Once they finally got home Steve set to fixing up the kitten's place with such excitement that Bucky couldn't help but be a little bit endeared by it. 

Bucky's fondness faded as soon as he saw that the little thing wasn't even playing with any of the toys, but rather seemed very fascinated with the ball of blue yarn sitting in a basket of crocheting tools that Steve got from Natasha as a gag gift last Christmas.

"Steve," Bucky complained, "He's not even playing with his toys."

Steve gave him a look that said he was in no way fooled and Bucky grumbled, but crouched down in front of the beast and murmured, "C'mere lil bit, what do you think you're doing?"

Bucky decidedly ignored Steve staring down at him and continued to try to get the kitten to play with his actual toys instead of the yarn.

Turns out it didn't work very well and Bucky ended up just pushing the ball of yarn back and forth, trying not to smile at the munchkin doing its best to creep and pounce with only three legs.

"That's what you should call him." Steve said suddenly, his voice sounding a little off.

Bucky glanced up from where he was sitting with his legs spread out on the floor, the cat in between his legs still trying to push the yarn ball into Bucky's limp hand. 

Steve's eyes looked brighter than normal but Bucky didn't comment on it, instead asking, "Calling him what?"

"Little Bit. It's cute." Steve said with a small smile and Bucky grudgingly felt the corners of his mouth turn up at that.

"All right." Bucky said hoarsely, then cleared his throat, looking down at the small creature peering up at him with big blue eyes, "Little Bit is is then."

***

One day when Bucky and Steve were getting home from a mission, they walked the front door to find someone trying to break in from the window of their apartment.

Steve immediately jumped to tackle him, while Bucky-- _not_ frantically he would swear later--started looking for Little Bit. 

Bucky found the kitten underneath his bed, no doubt hiding from the intruder and pushed down the wave of anger that was threatening to engulf him. He spent the next 30 minutes coaxing the trembling creature out from underneath his bed.

Once he successfully had Little Bit wrapped in his hands, he slowly walked downstairs to learn that Steve had already called an emergency Avengers meeting.

***

Clint was just leaving with the scoundrel, who was claiming he didn't he know there was a cat in the building, when Bucky stepped into the living room that was holding a super soldier, a billionaire-genius-philanthropist-whatever, and a very highly trained assassin all set on fixing the problem that was keeping Steve and Bucky's cat safe.

"Why didn't you set the alarm I installed for you? Its state of the art" Tony asked, a little hurt.

"Bit kept on setting it off. And I didn't know how to change it so it won't detect motion inside the apartment." Steve said apologetically. 

Tony started grumbling about old men and their lack of technological intelligence but he walked over to the alarm code box and started pressing different combinations of buttons that Bucky didn't even try to understand.

Bucky felt like he shouldn't be surprised that none of the members were even complaining about an emergency meeting being called because their cat was in danger, but it was nice seeing the genuinely worried and then relieved looks he received from Natasha and Steve when he stepped fully into the room.

It felt even nicer, however, when Natasha tried to take Little Bit from his hands, only for the kitten to burrow deeper into Bucky, trying desperately to avoid being taken away from his warm cocoon of safety. 

Bucky managed not to look smug at Natasha's slightly wounded expression, but just barely so. Bucky had never actually admitted it to anyone, though they all could probably guess it, but just as the kitten had come to depend on Bucky for food and safety, Bucky had started to need the tiny creature for his own comfort and peace of mind. It was therapeutic for him to come home to this small body of innocence, not tarnished by whatever the world has done to hurt him. 

"Well then, besides an altered security system, do you think you'll want anything else for protection?" Natasha asked carefully. 

Bucky looked down at the purring tabby, his small tail curled around his thumb and his head rubbing against one of Bucky's mechanical fingers, his eyes closed and looking content to never leave Bucky's hand.

He looked up and said decisively, "Well the answer is obvious isn't it."

***

The next day the windows were replaced with the highest grade of bullet-proof windows that Fury would allow. Tony stopped by to present Steve and Bucky the plans he created for a bullet-proof cat carrier that if Tony thought was overboard, he didn't say it. Bucky was grateful because he didn't want to have to break the fingers of a fellow teammate. 

Three days later Tony presented them with a top of the line, completely bullet-proof cat carrier that only Steve's or Bucky's thumbprint could open.

"Also, if the carrier is jostled too much, like say for instance someone tripped over it." Tony explained, and Bucky tried not to let his blood boil at the thought, "I installed miniature airbags into the sides to cushion the impact, so your little guy won't get hurt on accident."

"Anything else?" Bucky asked, "Anything on the more offensive side, perhaps?"

Steve looked at him like he wasn't not sure if he was amused or exasperated, but Tony lifted one eyebrow like he expected the question and said, "It was difficult to figure out anything offensive that wouldn't end up hurting an innocent bystander or Little Bit himself, but if anyone somehow manages to pry open the door, there are lasers that'll make sure nothing gets past the opening."

Bucky nodded seriously and took the carrier over to Little Bit, who was on his tower that Bucky and Steve quickly found out he had no problem climbing, and started to introduce Bit to the contraption.

"What are you doing, Buck?" Steve asked from where he and Tony were lounging on the couch.

"I'm letting him get used to it, he's gonna have to like it if we want to take him with us on missions."

***

"James Buchanan Barns we are  _not_ taking our cat on life threatening missions with us! I don't care how safe that contraption is!" Steve sounded so scandalized at the thought Bucky was almost distracted enough to not argue back. Almost.

"Well we are certainly not leaving him here, who knows could have happened if we didn't come back when we did!" He retorted. 

At this Tony got up slowly and muttered, "I'll just go then."

Bucky and Steve both ignored him.

"Why can't we just hire a babysitter then?" Steve asked, his shoulders slumping forward.

"Who in the world would we trust enough to let them watch after our cat?" Bucky asked softly.

Steve's face suddenly lit up in a smile, standing up straight, "I have an idea."

***

"I have a bad feeling about this." Bucky muttered. 

They were on the top floor of the Stark tower, a sort of unofficial Avengers HQ, for a meeting with their possible cat sitter to go over everything and make sure Little Bit wouldn't die while they were gone.

Steve clapped a hand on his shoulder, "It'll be fine, trust me." 

He then addressed the giant of a man standing in front of them holding Bucky's cat in the palm of his huge hand. "So you're sure you can watch him for the weekend, Thor? Asgard doesn't need you?"

"DO NOT WORRY CAPTAIN ROGERS." Thor bellowed.

Bucky winced. He still didn't understand why Thor had to yell all the time when they were clearly standing right in front of him.

"SINCE ASGARDIANS' LIVES ARE MUCH LONGER, WHAT YOU HUMANS CALL A WEEKEND IS NOTHING TO US. I WILL BE ABLE TO WATCH YOUR MINIATURE TIGER FOR THIS SPANSE OF TIME."

"Yeah all right...thanks Thor." Steve said, rubbing his ears. "You understand he needs to eat and drink a lot, right? And he is much more fragile than you're used to I'm sure. So remember to be careful okay?"

Thor's laughed so heartily that it looked like it made Little Bit's entire body vibrate. Bucky thought a laugh like that belonged with a mug of ale in his hands, not Bucky's whole world. "YOU NEED NOT BE CONCERNED CAPTAIN ROGERS AND MR. BARNES, I SEE THAT YOUR MINIATURE TIGER HAS SUFFERED A GRIEVOUS WOUND AND SURVIVED. THIS IS THE MARK OF A TRUE FIGHTER. WE WILL DO MUCH BONDING WHILE YOU ARE GONE, I SUSPECT."

Bucky had to smile a little at that. Little Bit was indeed a fighter, and hopefully he was tough enough to survive the god of thunder. An image of Little Bit accidentally getting electrocuted flashed in his mind and he forced down the bile that was threatening to rise up. This  _will_ be fine. 

Just to make sure, though, Bucky asked in an uncharacteristically small voice, "Do you have any magic or whatever that could protect him while we're gone perhaps?"

"INDEED MR. BARNES I DO. IT IS WHAT MY MOTHER DID FOR ME WHEN I WAS A WEE TOT AND WAS FAR TO CURIOUS FOR MY GOOD, ALAS."

To Bucky's horror Thor then hefted his hammer and acted as though he was going to hit Little Bit on the head with it. 

"THOR WHAT ARE YOU--" Bucky and Steve yelled at the same time. 

Before they could stop him however, Thor ever so gently touched the tip of the hammer to Little Bit's head, forming what looked like a bubble around his body.

"--Doing." Bucky finished, confused as to what just happened. There was now an iridescent sphere surrounding his cat, the bubble not quite touching Thor's hand anymore but bobbing up and down gently just above it. 

"I'm guessing thats a protective bubble that will keep the kitty safe but at the same time not let anyone near it?" Steve asked somewhat faintly.

"INDEED IT IS CAPTAIN, YOU HAVE A KEEN EYE." Thor beamed at Steve like a proud parent and Bucky groaned.

"So all this time we could've just asked you?" Bucky wasn't sure if he was supposed to be mad about this or not. "Shi--I mean shoot, we didn't even need Tony at all." Steve shot Bucky a dirty look for cursing in front of the cat and Bucky gave him an  _I'm sorry I tried, okay?_ look. 

"You didn't need me for what?" Tony appeared out of nowhere, took one look at Little Bit safely levitating in his magical ball and scoffed indignantly. "Mine is way cooler okay? It has lasers, Barnes.  _Lasers._ That’s just a glorified hamster ball. It looks ridiculous. _"_

***

Bucky tried to convince himself that he was not anxious about coming home, but honestly who was he kidding? The knot of nerves deep in his gut that started when they left were now so tightly wound Bucky thought he might actually throw up.

“Everything’s fine, everything’s fine. It’s all right, everything’s fine. They would’ve called if it wasn’t right? Yeah of course they would have. So everything is fine.” Bucky babbled under his breathe as they took the extremely long elevator ride up to Stark’s penthouse.

“I swear to God if one hair on his head is out of place—” Bucky started, but Steve cut him off with a gentle smile.

“And to think I was the one who wanted to keep him in the first place? Be careful Buck, if you keep this up people might start to see that soft heart under your rough exterior.”

“Shut up Rogers I _knew_ getting Thor to babysit was a bad idea. He’s probably—” Bucky was cut off yet again, this time by the elevator doors finally sliding open. Bucky wasted no time and immediately yelled into the apartment, “Where’s my cat?”

“Nice to see you to Bucky.” Natasha said sarcastically, sitting on the couch with her feet propped up on the coffee table, and Bucky barely glanced in her direction.

“THOR!” Bucky hollered, not caring that he was probably overreacting, “If you don’t hand me my cat within the next 30 seconds I _swear_ I will—”

“MISTER BARNES YOUR TONE REMINDS ME OF MY MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS SCOLDING ME.” Thor booms good-naturedly while ambling down the stairs. Behind him trailed Little Bit in his bubble, bouncing happily down each step and meowing loudly at Bucky.

Once the bubble hit the last step, Thor touched it with Mjölnir and with a soft _pop_ Little Bit tumbled onto the ground, immediately starting his limping run across the hardwood floor.

A grin involuntarily spread across his face and he didn't care how lame it looked, he crouched down on one knee and let Little Bit run into his open arms. As soon as the kitten stepped lightly onto Bucky’s metal palm, he started to turn in circles and settle down. His tail was twitching and he rubbed his head furiously against the metal, as if he was forcing his scent back on Bucky.

“You could give Nanny Thor a run for his money, you’re purring so loud Little Bit. Quite thunderous.” Bucky whispered to the cat, who was sending vibrations through his robotic arm, not even trying to keep the fond out of his voice.

Bucky was so focused on his kitty that he didn't notice Steve walking up to them until he said, his voice full of barely contained laughter, “You are simply ridiculous Buck. Don’t’ let our enemies see you like this or your reputation will be ruined, Jesus Christ man.”

Bucky ignored Steve. He couldn’t care less if he looked soft. This kitten made him, for the first time since those awful people unfroze him, feel fully human again. He made Bucky feel that if a 2 week old, completely defenseless kitten could survive with one less limb, then Bucky sure as hell could too.

***

Epilogue – Halloween

“I’m tired of waiting, Stark, let me see my cat already!” Bucky yelled in irritation, though he still kept his hand covering his eyes.

Steve had convinced Bucky to go to the local children’s hospital in their uniforms to hand out candy to kids who couldn’t get out of bed. Thankfully, all of the recent missions Bucky’s been doing with Steve has had the media painting a much better picture of him, so now he was seen as just another member of the Avengers and the children hopefully wouldn't be terrified that the Winter Soldier was in their bedroom. Bucky agreed but he wanted to take Little Bit along with them. Steve agreed but insisted they get him a costume to match. Enter in, Tony Stark.

“I’m almost done, keep your pants on, Barnes. This’ll make that silly hamster ball look like a rodent’s toy. Which it technically is, but that’s beside the point.”

“Stark that was six months ago, you need to get over it.”

“All right, all right! Here you go, uncover your eyes and tell me how awesome I am.”

Bucky opened his eyes and saw his now long and lean tabby sitting on Tony’s coffee table in what could only be described as a miniature Winter Soldier outfit. Little Bit had on a tiny leather jacket and where there used to be no leg, Tony installed a cat-sized prosthetic arm that looked almost exactly like Bucky’s. Almost meaning he had tiny metal paws instead of fingers, obviously.

Bucky stared hard at his pet, blinking furiously. “Thanks Tony.” He said gruffly, “The kids are gonna love it.”

“Yeah okay, you big teddy bear. Get outta here and make a kid’s day.”

Bucky was in the elevator and the doors were just about to close when Bucky called out, “Hey Tony!”

“Yeah?”

“It’s much better than a hamster ball.”

The doors closed, but not before Bucky could hear Tony’s shout of “I knew it!” and the distant roar of “I HEARD THAT JAMES BARNES AND I AM MOST DISPLEASED.”

Bucky grinned sideways at his cat, who was lounging on his shoulder and said, “Why don’t we go make a kid’s day, Lil Buck.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I had WAY too much fun writing Thor I'm so sorry lol


End file.
